Florence and Cripple Creek Railroad Lock!!

[diggingthe1]

Went out yesterday evening hoping the construction workers would have left since it was Friday. They were working late trying to finish before the weekend. I thought I would hit up another permission that hasn't been that productive. You never know what your going to come home with when you walk out the door. The Fl in the lock is crusted in that hard iron you have to scrape off with a pocket knife. Any ideas how to clean it a little better. It's kinda the holy grail of western railroad locks!!! Happy Hunting out there.

 

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[ArfieBoy]

Beauty of a lock! Congratulations! Thanks for sharing and thanks to all you who have added extra information and comments. Love the discourse here.

 

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[Gulf Coast Pirate]

Congrats on the sweet lock!!

 

[mindcrime1988]

Cool find.

 

[diggingthe1]

Beauty of a lock! Congratulations! Thanks for sharing and thanks to all you who have added extra information and comments. Love the discourse here.

Thanks Arfieboy, it was such a a great Railroad, it was a pretty exciting time back then to be able to see the mountains!!! My wife's great grandma came out to check out the mining district!!

 

[diggingthe1]

Congrats on the sweet lock!!

I found a plain RR lock a long while back, always wanted a nice one. The thing with finding something valuable is you are tempting to sell it.

 

[diggingthe1]

Cool find.

Thanks, better than a gold coin for me!!

 

[Digger RJ]

Went out yesterday evening hoping the construction workers would have left since it was Friday. They were working late trying to finish before the weekend. I thought I would hit up another permission that hasn't been that productive. You never know what your going to come home with when you walk out the door. The Fl in the lock is crusted in that hard iron you have to scrape off with a pocket knife. Any ideas how to clean it a little better. It's kinda the holy grail of western railroad locks!!! Happy Hunting out there.

Cool Lock!!! Congrats!!!

 

[PikesPeakCharlie]

I know we spoke on the phone when you found this treasure !! but i wanted to chime in here.
Everyone, this lock IS the Holy Grail of Cripple Creek items !! A huge congrats is due !!! he put in alot of detector time through the years and it was much deserved !!! It is very rare and worth 7 digits !!!! and as such is worth a banner slot !!!!!! Again , Congrats on this RARE find. Going to put in my banner vote now

 

[tamrock]

I know we spoke on the phone when you found this treasure !! but i wanted to chime in here.
Everyone, this lock IS the Holy Grail of Cripple Creek items !! A huge congrats is due !!! he put in alot of detector time through the years and it was much deserved !!! It is very rare and worth 7 digits !!!! and as such is worth a banner slot !!!!!! Again , Congrats on this RARE find. Going to put in my banner vote now and encourage ya'll to do the same !

Sure, I'll do that.

 

[diggingthe1]

I know we spoke on the phone when you found this treasure !! but i wanted to chime in here.
Everyone, this lock IS the Holy Grail of Cripple Creek items !! A huge congrats is due !!! he put in alot of detector time through the years and it was much deserved !!! It is very rare and worth 7 digits !!!! and as such is worth a banner slot !!!!!! Again , Congrats on this RARE find. Going to put in my banner vote now

Thanks for the kind words Charlie. I'm thankful for Treasurenets forum to be able to document my finds. It's a great find for Colorado, but most people are not from around here. It's been cleaning up nice, definitely in my banner case!!! It is a switch lock, doing a little research. I realized my Grandfather was a switch operator for the Sante Fe and would ride hand carts to operate the switches. With all the railroads, and all the places there would have been switch locks, it's time to do some research!!! Hopefully when they pulled some of the railroads up they pitched the locks aside!! Can't wait to do some digging this summer!!!

 

[scruggs]

That is a fantastic recovery of a Florence & Cripple Creek Railroad Company switch lock you made, Congratulations on such a special center piece find!

 

[diggingthe1]

Thanks RJ, and Scruggs!! It's good to hear from you both!! It's a great piece. We are under heavy snow now, glad I went out when i did!!

 

[PikesPeakCharlie]

Thanks for the kind words Charlie. I'm thankful for Treasurenets forum to be able to document my finds. It's a great find for Colorado, but most people are not from around here. It's been cleaning up nice, definitely in my banner case!!! It is a switch lock, doing a little research. I realized my Grandfather was a switch operator for the Sante Fe and would ride hand carts to operate the switches. With all the railroads, and all the places there would have been switch locks, it's time to do some research!!! Hopefully when they pulled some of the railroads up they pitched the locks aside!! Can't wait to do some digging this summer!!!

Sorry Cliff ,not a switch lock. If it was a switch lock it would have an "S" stamped on the key cover. Yours has a "C" as it is a car lock. Congrats again !!!!!!!! Looking forward to getting together for some hunting !!!

 

[xr7ator]

That's a heck of a find, Cliff. (I know your name now)
7 digits seems like a stretch, but I'm no expert & far from it.
Super find up there....keep up the great fun!

 

[diggingthe1]

Sorry Cliff ,not a switch lock. If it was a switch lock it would have an "S" stamped on the key cover. Yours has a "C" as it is a car lock. Congrats again !!!!!!!! Looking forward to getting together for some hunting !!!

Thanks for the information, I was informed it was a switch cut for the key and that the c is more of a circle where the cover pivots. Either way it's awesome!!

 

[diggingthe1]

That's a heck of a find, Cliff. (I know your name now)
7 digits seems like a stretch, but I'm no expert & far from it.
Super find up there....keep up the great fun!

Drop over some time There is one for sale now that probably works for 7500. Will do on the fun!!

 

[PikesPeakCharlie]

That's a heck of a find, Cliff. (I know your name now)
7 digits seems like a stretch, but I'm no expert & far from it.
Super find up there....keep up the great fun!

Xr , Not a stretch . 15-16 years ago one sold for $12.000.00. I know of two others,one sold also for 12 and the other sold for 10.000.00. Buuuut with the economy they might bring less now and of course it all depends on condition. HH

 

[PikesPeakCharlie]

Thanks for the information, I was informed it was a switch cut for the key and that the c is more of a circle where the cover pivots. Either way it's awesome!!

Cant wait to see it !!! but I still think its a car lock

 

[SilverDreams]

Congrats! That lock is so cool!

 

[diggingthe1]

Congrats! That lock is so cool!

Thanks, It was interesting to learn about RR locks and switch locks